Obama's Circle Of Pastors

New York Times:

President Obama has been without a pastor or a home church ever since he cut his ties to the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. in the heat of the presidential campaign. But he has quietly cultivated a handful of evangelical pastors for private prayer sessions on the telephone and for discussions on the role of religion in politics

All are men, two of them white and three black -- including the Rev. Otis Moss Jr., a graying lion of the civil rights movement. Two, the entrepreneurial dynamos Bishop T. D. Jakes and the Rev. Kirbyjon H. Caldwell, also served as occasional spiritual advisers to President George W. Bush. Another, the Rev. Jim Wallis, leans left on some issues, like military intervention and poverty programs, but opposes abortion.

Read the whole story: New York Times

Comments

[Intelligentia]

My their president; What will Jesus do? Reach ou to your old pastor. Dr. Wright. He should be your pastor! Give him a call. Forgive each other. After all Jesus call sinners a "brood of vipers," based on what the people did. If Dr. Wright called people name because of what they did, so what? Please, reach out to your pastor!

[TheBaffler]

He should never have thrown Rev. Wright under the bus.

[rsprags]

I am happy that the president have someone to pray with him weekly; he did not throw Wright under the bus, Wright hatred pushed him under the bus. He would not shut up, therefore, the President let him go - He made the right decision. His Pastor is commanded by God to help the sheep and do no harm; his disturbing rants were bad for the President, his congregation, and any one else.
As a Christain, the President's spiritual needs are balanced and it is fulfilling to him ; we will benefit from it because he is balanced and will make sound decision. Bush was a religious man and set in his dogma positions. Our current PRESIDENT IS SPIRITUAL AND USE HIS BELIEF'S TO ENHANCE HIS LIFE AND LIVES OF OTHERS - HE CHOOSES NOT TO TEAR DOWN THE FREE WILL OF OTHERS MEN. God gives us free will to be and live our live as we please; it is a personal decision that each of us can accept or not to serve him and follow his teaching. Many Christains do not understand this part of God's nature, therefore, they alienate and run people away from God and a relationship with his son Jesus. Whether you are a believer or not you should be happy that a true believer in Barack Obama is now your President. Please watch what he does and you will get to experience the true nature and charisma of the God and his son Jesus.

[dkuz09]

couldn't agree more.

[hyjanks]

So an atheist is bereft of all of these qualities. If my non-believing mom were still alive, I would have liked to introduce her to you.

[HMDMSR]

Is Jesus God?

[Sweetbay]

I remember it the other way around. Funny, how memory has a way of twisting the facts.

[Hirnlego]

He never should've bothered to go to that church in the first place. C'mon, he can read the bible on his own, why the need for a middle-man?

[scottowego]

When an elected official turns to any one religious leader for advice he throws democracy out the window. These guys, no matter which one has one oppinion that represents one faction of our society. It's impossible to get an oppinion or advice from one of these guys which is representative of the electorate as a whole. We the People elected this president. Not one religious group.

[Trogenhorse]

I have to disagree. We the people elected a man who had deep religious convictions to be the president. It is not reasonable to expect him to leave those beliefs at the front door. Nor would I want him to . Everything he is comes from what he has experience, learned, shared, and held dear. That includes his spirituality.
There are times when a person of faith has to ask "why me Lord?" I don't want him to ask that to just anyone, I want him to find a minister who he feels he can share his thoughts with and who will pray with our president!
One on the greatest things on the day of his inaguration was to hear the convocation. I really appreciated the prayer. When people started to boo (before the prayer even started) I reminded them I want somebody to pray over my president to give him courage in the long days ahead. Strange, everyone stopped.
I don't say that eveyone has to be a person of faith but for those of us who are. That faith is a strong foundation of strength- it provides the energy to see another day with our best foot forward. Why would you want to take that from our president?

[dkuz09]

You said everything that needed to be said.

[hyjanks]

"That faith is a strong foundation of strength- it provides the energy to see another day with our best foot forward."
I'm sure the pious leading the Crusades had that foundation of strength as they put their best foot forward toward the Holy Land--and eventual masacuring of the infidels they encountered along the way.

[MadamRoma]

Obama needs to get out of the religion ditch.

[Bitsko]

So does everybody in the world, but it's really none of our business.

[MadamRoma]

Oh yes, when he is the president if it clouds his decisions, it's very much my business and yours.

[brooklyncitizen]

Ehrmm...in case you haven't noticed he's done rather well for himself.

[hyjanks]

In case you haven't noticed, there has never, ever been a professed atheist elected to high public office in the history of this country.

[Clois]

So now I guess the ministers must be vetted!

[AnalyzeIT]

LOL, don't know why but that is funny. And then you may have a point, the minister should be 'vetted." :)

[Pie7]

Wonderful pastors and I thank them for the wonderful work they’re doing. But, as a Pentecostal Social Conservative Independent Democratic I’m 100% in agreement with Mr. Wallis. I hope he’s successful in getting President Obama to change is stance on faith-based initiatives and continue to allow government financing for religious social service groups that hire only employees of their own faith.

[tomasedison]

Many long-time employees of the Salvation Army have been suddenly fired after
20 years on the job simply for being the wrong religion (jewish).

Sorry, but that is against the law and its wrong to boot

[Pie7]

When did the Salvation Army became a faith-based organization? If so, this I disagree with because I'm only referring to faith-base initiatives only.

[JohnFromCensornati]

FYI - Pie7 (formerly iwantpie) only objects to the gayfaith. It's an obsessive homoph0be.

[Chandidevi]

What about Doug Coe and "The Family" as his advisers?

[Bitsko]

There's a group I'd like to see behind bars.

[Charmed]

I don't remember the press every covering any other Presidents pastors.

[SPQR1052]

Not true... They have and I am a HUGE OBAMA fan so I gotta smack you down on this uninformed comment.

[as1504]

TD Jakes endorses employment discrimination against gays, he is anti-choice, and a misogynist (read his books or see his movies for proof). Obama endorses the Talibangelist bigots every time he consults with them. I am sick of him trying to pander to the Christian right. Why doesn't he pander to the voters who supported him and believed him when he promised a socially progressive agenda. Oh, well.

[AlligatorShuz]

I think you're wrong about Td Jakes his son just got arrested in Dallas for trying to pick up a male Dallas police officer for sex..... He don't discriminate against gays when his own sone is gay....

[MomfromTexas]

Oh, well. Get a life!

[SPQR1052]

MomfromTexas - great reply to this disingenuous commenter.

I too detest "extremist" on either side of the aisle. Life is about compromise.

[MadamRoma]

Maybe that's what you should do.

[Pie7]

I second that, Christian voted for Obama too. Majority of us blacks are Christian and supported and voted for Obama despite some social issues stance, why can't the far left gets this.

[MadamRoma]

He is just before losing the next election, if he thinks he can throw gays under the bus and they will still support him he is sadly mistaken. He had best guard his decisions, he's losing support everyday.

[Pie7]

Are you talking about these same people who supported Hillary in the Democratic primary and Mr. Obama was still able to beat her? or these people who gave Mr. Obama the lowest support of any previous Democratic President? OH NO!! President Obama is scared now.

[dkuz09]

There are christians on both sides of the aisle, so I don't know why you think because Obama became president that he now has to be devoid of any faith and become an atheist. That's incredibly naive of you to believe something like that.

[hyjanks]

He has always been a atheist. See my post above.

[Islandtime]

I'm not superstitious, what kind of wizardry do these guys do?

[AlligatorShuz]

Most not all are swendlers. They have no message other than give them money so they can ride around in luxury cars...

[PlaceboStudman]

Well, my confidence that President Obama will do anything positive for gay rights has just been cut in half AGAIN.

Did he have to choose Evangelical christians to align with? These folks are (maybe) one step above the "God Hates Gays" people

[SPQR1052]

U was going to become a fan of yours however you just cannot lix stupid. Gay is only part of who someone is not all of. Same for heterosexuals, bisexuals, etc.

Apparently it's your main focis and since we on the topic: I am a human rights and gay activist!

[PlaceboStudman]

I am a human rights and gay activist myself, and as such I know very well all of the false arguments that Evangelicals use to promote their disinformation campaign, and the men stated in this article clearly stated are Evangelicals, and therefore unlikely to promote any gay positive agenda President Obama was pushing for. The question is, will he stick to his guns and support the LGBT community as he has indicated, or will he follow the advise of these counselors and pull a Bill Clinton on us?

And if you are one of the few rare honorable Evangelicals who does promote gay rights, then you are certainly in the silent minority of people who arent doing nearly enough to fight against those who give Evangelist Christianity a bad name

[Zanti]

So, had he aligned himself with moderate to liberal Christians, you wouldn't be accusing said C.'s of believing in an imaginary invisible being in the sky, etc.?

If your beef is specifically with socially conservative Christians and Christianity, then I'm with you. It does make me wonder where the heck he's coming from in regard to gay and women's rights, and you'd think he'd be smart enough to anticipate the doubt this would raise in the minds of many. He is, after all, not a social conservative himself. But his willingness to pander to same... what's up with that?

[PlaceboStudman]

I accuse all Christians of putting blind faith in unproveable beliefs based on mythology and fear that is the basis of Organized Religion. That being said, a person's personal faith is just that, personal, and The President's or in fact no one's faith should be a factor in making decisions for a group of people, namely the country, many of whom do not share his personal beliefs.

Had he publicly aligned himself with moderate to liberal christians in public, it would give me more faith in his ability to govern with objectivity and rationality, whereas by aligning himself publicly with conservative evangelical christians, it does raise doubts that he will leave his faith out of his decision making, or at the very least make me question whether these men who have money and power will have more influence and power over policy than those of us who do not share his faith beliefs.

If he had chosen to keep his personal faith beliefs private in his own heart and mind where they belong, no matter what they actually are, then I would have more faith in him as a fair and balanced representative of the entire nation, and not just of the special interest groups these pastors represent.

And I would say the same thing if he aligned himself with Socialist Atheists. They have no more or less right to have influence over policy than conservative christians

[AndThenOneDay]

That's him all right. I'm glad he didn't exploit his faith on the campaign trail. He has an inner serenity that this whole nation depends on now, and it's good that he didn't commoditize it for votes.

Just as at one time we needed FDR's brash confidence, right now we need BHO's spiritual cool. I shudder to think of McCain with his hair-trigger emoting and suspect health being in the Oval Office at this moment in history.

[Haditup2here]

I hope he doesn't turn to TDJakes who is nothing more than a self-congratulating hypocrite.

[Mdazes]

TDJakes has a deep message. He is one of the few who is not afraid to deal with "Real Life"

[AlligatorShuz]

TD Jakes is another swendler I don't know how anybody can say this this has a deep message! Yea he has a message of getting himself rich. That man don't have no message he is just like all of the other pimps from the ghetto....

[as1504]

He is a misogynist and a homophobe. He espouses the virtues of women staying in the home and ironing shirts for their husband. He, like Tyler Perry, demonizes women who work outside the home or go to college. They glorify the working class man and deride women who dare step out of their "place."

Obama can have his religion. But, I hate how our politicians have to reassure the religious fanatics in this country that he is living up to their standards of piety. I had hoped Obama would abide by the "separation between church and state" which hasn't been practiced by any president in recent history.

[Haditup2here]

Well, tell me this? How do you explain his actions in pushing those in his Church to support Bush in order to ban to GayMarriage and to get funds for that Faith Based Initiative? Although I am not gay myself, it puzzles me why on the earth after what Bush has done in the first four years of his presidency, anyone who have voted him back in just to deny other(s) their rights -- and look where we are now !!

And if that wasn't bad enough, the only thing he complained about was not getting Faith Based Initiatives. Never mind all of the lives lost in the Iraq War or how the economic policies of Bush further devastated the Black Community. However, he is supposed to be one of a "deep message" that deals with "Real life".

Give me a break.

[eraofpeace]

Is this the socialist who palls around with terrorists? Wonder why he didn't wear his faith on his sleeve so he could get more votes during the presidential campaign last year?

[Mdazes]

Maybe because faith isnt about judging gays, telling women what to do with their bodies and thinking only Republicans have a lock down on religion. Those are so votes he can do without.

[Mdazes]

correction: those are some votes he can do without